"The Empress Dowager is too magnanimous. She wouldn't even notice someone as useless as me."
"Although I am now a concubine, it is of no use."
"Hmm, I used to think you were a smart person, and I still think you are. But in this entire harem, with so many concubines who are princes, why did you only have your eye on me?" Yan Nangui smiled.
"Yes, I only have faith in Your Majesty. I only ask for Your Majesty's protection, and I will certainly serve Your Majesty," Consort He said.
"Alright. Since you think so highly of me, I'll accept your pledge of loyalty." Yan Nangui didn't bother with any more nonsense.
As long as it works well and behaves honestly, that's fine. If it doesn't behave, then we'll teach it a lesson.
"Your Majesty, I have nothing else to say, but there is one thing I can tell you. Among the girls selected for the imperial concubine selection this year, there is a daughter of the Prefect of Guzhou, surnamed Yu, who is seventeen years old. She is extremely beautiful. Prefect Yu is a capable man, and he is only forty years old this year. Back then, he offended the examiners during the imperial examination and almost failed to take the exam. It was the First Prince... oh, that is, His Highness the Prince of Qin back then, who helped him. His Highness the Prince of Qin passed away early, but Your Majesty the Empress Dowager has been corresponding with this Prefect Yu. Your Majesty is also aware of this."
"It's just that this Prefect Yu is capable and knows how to repay kindness, and he hasn't done anything wrong. It's just that His Majesty may not know that His Highness Prince Qin helped him back then."
"Oh? You mean, this Yu family member is the one the Empress Dowager has taken a liking to this year?" Yan Nangui asked with a smile.
"Besides the Yu family, there should be one or two more. But that's beyond my knowledge," Consort He said.
“Very well, I’ll take your message.” Yan Nangui said.
Consort He stayed for a while longer before leaving.
As they were leaving, Ling'er hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, you've been in Zhaochun Palace for so long. I'm afraid the Empress Dowager already knows about it and might become suspicious."
"Suspicion? Ha. Am I afraid?" Consort He sneered, "Do you know why Consort Ye treated the Fifth Prince that way before she died? Because the Fifth Prince was the Empress Dowager's dearest grandson. She was taking revenge on the Empress Dowager."
“I truly understand Consort Ye’s thoughts. Back then, it was the Empress Dowager who told me about the many benefits of entering the palace and wholeheartedly supported me. But I was inexplicably given medicine by His Majesty, which ruined my health, and the Empress Dowager then stopped caring about me. She no longer treats me like her own niece as before.”
“If Consort Jing hadn’t died young, I, as a mere concubine, would have served my entire life. You two know best what kind of life I’ve led these past few years. Did I expect her to take care of me? She only cares about herself. If she continues down this path, one day even His Majesty will ignore her. If I don’t find myself a powerful backer now, am I just waiting to be disliked along with her?”
"You have to understand, the Fourth Princess and the Fifth Prince will eventually grow up. Once they're grown up, they won't need me to take care of them anymore. What will I do then?"
Ling'er had nothing more to say.
Such a fine young woman, treated so badly, that the Empress Dowager simply abandoned her.
No wonder the girl's heart turned cold.
“Neither His Majesty nor the Empress Dowager are good people. His Majesty is heartless. The Empress Dowager is vicious. I only regret that I was blinded by wealth and fame and should never have entered the palace.” Consort He took a deep breath and held Ling’er’s hand: “Now, what else can we do but protect ourselves?”
Ling'er had nothing to say.
The next day, Consort Xiangxian came to Zhaochun Palace.
"I discussed the imperial concubine selection with my sister. Judging from the Empress Dowager's words, this time it's going to be done properly. There's not much time left. His Majesty is clearly not very involved. In this kind of matter... even if you and I make the decision, there are bound to be people who disagree." The "people" Consort Xiangxian was referring to was naturally the Empress Dowager.
“Sister, why are you in such a hurry? All we need to do is arrange the venue. As for the selection of candidates, we can choose Funing Pavilion and Qinglang Pavilion. His Majesty rarely goes there, so there won’t be any conflict. We’ll arrange whatever we need. As for who will be chosen in the end, the Empress Dowager and the Empress are there, so it’s not up to us to say anything,” Yan Nangui said.
“That is to be expected, but Her Majesty the Empress is still unwell…” Consort Xiangxian hesitated.
"Her Majesty the Empress was unwell before, but she can't stay unwell forever," Yan Nangui said with a smile.
When it's time to take the blame, you'd better be ready.
It's impossible for him to manage affairs now; the Empress certainly won't be able to reclaim power.
But in situations like this, it's not a bad thing to have her host.
Consort Xiangxian smiled in the end, saying that this was indeed a good thing.
To avoid the Empress Dowager causing trouble and blaming them.
When Shu Chengfeng arrived that evening, Yan Nangui brought up the matter.
“The Empress can’t stay ill forever. The Ning family needs her now too,” Yan Nangui said.
"What good will it do you if the Empress recovers? Don't tell me you don't want to manage palace affairs anymore after just a few days?" Shu Chengfeng pinched her arm.
“I will continue to take charge once I start. However, Her Majesty the Empress is always ill, which inevitably leads to speculation outside the court. It also makes everyone in the harem worry. It's not good for the court either. After Consort Jing passed away, it already affected some affairs of the court. Shouldn't the Empress be well by now?”
"You think I don't know what you're thinking? You're so slippery. Sometimes I really don't understand you. How come your mind is so different from others?" Shu Chengfeng clicked his tongue and tapped her head.
Yan Nangui, unconvinced, lay on his lap and said, "How come it's different again?"
He looked like he wouldn't listen unless you explained it clearly.
Shu Chengfeng smiled and removed the hairpins from her head, setting them aside.
He stroked her long hair: "Do you think I don't know what you're thinking? You summoned the Empress, isn't that just making her a target for you? Hmm? With the Ning family's Empress here, your status as a Noble Consort isn't so conspicuous. And your Yan family isn't so conspicuous either, is it?"
However, the Empress lost her real power. Real power was in the hands of the Noble Consort and the Virtuous Consort.
What is the empress? Isn't she just a decoration, a target?
"How annoying! You're so blunt, I don't even want to talk to you anymore. Can't you just pretend you don't know I'm being mean?" Yan Nangui said.
"Alright, alright, I don't know. But you should know what will happen after the Empress recovers." People can't just obediently be decorations.
"Hmm." Yan Nangui simply hummed in response and didn't elaborate.
The empress is courting death; she'll never be able to get out of here again.
But if they want to cause some trouble, that's fine too, since we still have the Empress Dowager.
Shu Chengfeng stroked her hair: "You've already had a child, how come you still can't gain weight? I see that the weight you gained before the New Year is all gone."
"You have the nerve to say that to me? What about you?" Yan Nangui retorted.
Shu Chengfeng didn't think she had lost weight, so she just assumed she was talking nonsense.
The two leaned against each other and chatted. Perhaps because they had been getting up early these past few days, Yan Nangui was indeed tired, and he fell asleep leaning against him.
It wasn't even the end of the first month of the lunar calendar yet, and it was still very cold. Shu Chengfeng carried her into the inner room and she fell asleep.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com